BRIAN LITTRELL: The Real Deal

Over the past couple of years, I've had the opportunity to sit down (or stand back stage) with Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell on several occasions. We've met in such far-flung locations as Walt Disney World in Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; and Estes Park, Colorado.

While his bandmates have made headlines with raucous partying, dates with Paris Hilton, a drunk driving arrest, stints in rehab, and even a very public marriage proposal, Littrell usually dodges the tabloids - although his bout with H1N1 last spring dominated the news wires for a time.

So, who is this Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter who balances international tours with a stable family life in an Atlanta suburb?

My first impression of Littrell was molded when I was privy to an impromptu private concert. My daughters were interviewing the Christian band Eleventy-Seven during a media blitz at Gospel Music Week back in 2007. Littrell, who had just released his solo project, Welcome Home, was in the next curtained stall. Eleventy-Seven, impressed that they had landed an interview station next to a "Backstreet Boy", started singing I Want It That Way. Littrell poked his head (literally) through the curtains, holding the drape tight around his neck. He burst into harmony with the boys, finishing his famous ditty a cappella.

Since then, I've found him to be a devoted family man, a spontaneous interviewee with a wicked sense of humor, and a consummate professional whose musical trek began back in Lexington, Kentucky, at his Southern Baptist church.

Since then, I've found him to be a devoted family man, a spontaneous interviewee with a wicked sense of humor, and a consummate professional whose musical trek began back in Lexington, Kentucky, at his Southern Baptist church.

How It All Began

"For me, I grew up singing in the church, ever since I was young, younger than my son is now - 4 or 5 years old. On Sundays and Wednesdays, church was where you were to be."

Even then, he claims, he knew God had a purpose for his life.

"I mean, little did I know that I would make an impact on the pop world through the Backstreet Boys."

In fact, originally Littrell thought his musical career would be tied to a ministerial vocation.

"I passed up on a full scholarship to Cincinnati Bible College," Littrell says. "I was going to go into youth ministry or music ministry. But before I got started in school, Kevin (Richardson, Littrell's cousin and former Backstreet Boy band member) called me and asked me to come try out for the group."

That call came while Littrell was still a junior at Tates Creek High School in Lexington, Kentucky. With his parents' blessing, and a bit of apprehension, Littrell headed to auditions in Orlando, Florida. The rest, as they say, is music history.

Filling a Void

Still, as his face graced the covers of magazines, trading cards, and just about every form of marketing medium you can imagine, Christian music remained on Littrell's mind.

"I always knew in my heart that I wanted to do Christian music, that's what's always tugged on my heart strings the most. He (God) has helped me through any and every endeavor in my life," he says. "and I want to share that with others."

He got the chance to fulfill that dream in 2006 with the release of Welcome Home (You). Appearing on CBS's Early Show and other national stages, Littrell introduced his old fans to some new inspirational tunes.

"As the Backstreet Boy fans have grown with us through the years, I wanted to give them something different to think about, a new aspect on life. I think about the important decisions to be made about what you want to do in the future, what you want to make out of your life, and I took that opportunity. I don't like labels, but I will always perform Christian music as a solo artist."

When we talked in Nashville last April during Gospel Music Week, Littrell revealed a tinge of excitement about the prospects of his second solo project, to be released on his own, newly formed record label.

"I'm working on it when I can," he said. "I've been a bit busy of late."

Busy may be an understatement.

Taking Care of Business

Over the last few years, several media outlets have referred to Littrell as a "former" Backstreet Boy, but he has never indicated to me that he ever left, or is leaving, the group. His calendar remains full of both solo and Backstreet Boy commitments.

While the group became a quartet in 2006 with the departure of Richardson, Brian and the remaining original members released a new studio project with Unbreakable in 2007. This Is Us followed in 2009. Touring ensued, as did television appearances, including rounds at the morning and late night talk shows and an episode of Donald Trump's Apprentice reality television show.

Although he wasn't very happy with that last booking.

"They really edited our segment to make us look like prima donnas," Littrell told me, referring to the scene in which the band demands wheatgrass. "The whole thing was manipulated and really made us look bad."

Even as the Backstreet Boys continue to experience success 16 years into their careers, Littrell's personal life has never been worry free.

A Hole in His Heart - Literally

Born with a heart murmur, Littrell underwent open-heart surgery at 23 at the height of his boy band's popularity. Despite the fact that work-related stress was worsening his condition, the band's schedule caused the surgery to be rescheduled twice.

"I was scared and more than a little upset," recalled Littrell. "I was not being treated as a person."

It turns out he had good reason to be concerned. When repairing the small hole in his heart, his surgeon at the Mayo Clinic discovered a second, previously undetected, hole.

"It's a miracle that I lived, let alone did what I did on stage back then."

To pay it forward, Littrell and his wife Leighanne, a former model and accessories designer who met her future husband on the set of the video shoot for As Long As You Love Me, guide the charitable work of Brian Littrell's Healthy Heart Club for Kids. The organization provides financial support for families with children needing heart-related surgery. The nonprofit also works to educate families on the benefits of exercise and nutrition in raising heart-healthy children. In 2006, he returned to the Mayo Clinic, this time to present the hospital with a $25,000 check from his foundation to assist other families. Recently, the organization assisted two military families from Georgia's Fort Gordon through its Angels and Heroes Fund.

Through it all Littrell remains humble about his contributions to others.

"The more blessings you give out, the more you get back," he says.

And, Littrell is the first to recognize his own many blessings.

Divine Intervention

For one, he nearly lost his wife shortly after their first wedding anniversary on September 11, 2001. Leighanne was accompanying Brian on the Black and Blue tour, which had landed at Boston's Fleet Center on September 10. She was scheduled to fly out on American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles on 9/11 for a dental appointment. As they headed to the concert, she told Brian she didn't want to leave the next morning.

"I'll never forget the look in her eyes," recalls Brian. He cancelled her reservation that evening. The next day, Flight 11 hit the World Trade Center's North Tower.

"I can't even think about it," he says. "I wouldn't have my lovely wife or my son if she had been on that plane."

Baylee Thomas Wylee, the Littrell's now 7-year old son gave the couple cause for concern in late 2008 as he struggled with heart problems that seemed to stump his team of eight Atlanta-area doctors. Ultimately, he was diagnosed with a-typical Kawasaki disease and underwent months of treatment for the condition.

Standing Firm

As one might imagine, even a devout Christian, but especially one whose profession relegates him a pop superstar, can find himself amid moral dilemmas at times. One such situation arose at a photo shoot for a Rolling Stone magazine article. Arriving for the shoot, Littrell found himself amid 50 young ladies in nothing but bath robes. Refusing to pose with naked women, Littrell came up against resistance even from his own bandmates.

"The guys pretty much beat me up verbally and mentally for about four hours. They kept saying, 'People are gonna think that we're breaking up, or that you're going solo or that we're not a group anymore.'"

Littrell stood firm. In the end, the December 14, 2000, issue of the magazine features a photo of the other four Backstreet Boys with the girls and a separate portrait of Littrell, alone, on the opposing page.

He's as dedicated to his fans as he is to his beliefs. Whether its the smooth dance moves he performs with the Backstreet Boys, the easy acoustic set he often sings at his solo concerts, or the tender moments when he brings Baylee on stage with him, Brian Littrell always brings it.

Littrell often refers to his pop star gig as his "day job" during our interviews, I prefer the image he has left with me nearly every time I leave one of our meetings - A Mighty Man who moonlights as a Backstreet Boy.

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